Norfolk County Council wants to sell Norwich sinkhole site

Norfolk County Council shut its day centre and community hub in Norwich's Ipswich Road, after the discovery of a sinkhole in spring this year.

Staff who worked at the centre - run by the council's social enterprise spin-off Independence Matters - were moved off the site in June because of safety fears.

The buildings themselves were not damaged and nobody was hurt as a result of the sinkhole.

But ground survey investigations have established the site, which covers almost three acres close to Danby Woods, has very loose ground which extends to a "significant depth" in two areas.

Norfolk County Council hopes to sell the site (Image: Denise Bradley)

Engineers have told the council that they cannot guarantee that there won’t be further subsidence.

READ MORE: That sinking feeling - our long history of sinkholes

Council officers closed the site permanently and the council's director of property has now concluded the authority does not need the buildings or land anymore.

And, at a meeting of the Conservative-controlled council's cabinet on Monday (December 4), councillors are set to agree to declare the site surplus to requirements - and to look to sell it.

Any sale of the freehold would be on the open market through an auction or by tender.

A County Hall spokesperson said: "Norfolk County Council places safety and wellbeing as our first priority.

"Unfortunately the site does not meet the assured levels of safety expected for operational use and so was permanently withdrawn from use."

The council said all the staff and the services which were provided at the site have been moved to new locations, with the bulk of them switching to a hub in Sprowston.

Also affected by the closure and left looking for a new home was the Equal Brewkery social enterprise, based at the site, which teaches people with learning disabilities how to bake and brew beer.